Drowning in Freedom

Chapter 7: The Lost Soul

DaddysLittleGirl: Haha thank you! Omg your comment made me laugh so hard, like no joke. But yeah, Amaya has some kick ass qualities she has gained.

PrismRootStarlight: I am so glad you liked it and I felt like I was taking a chance with that last line... but we needed some hype somewhere... and ohhhh don't worry, things will go down... just not how you expect it.

moonlight46: Thank you! And yep! Tenzo and Tsunade will have larger roles in the future, or at least more speaking parts to say the least. Yes, I wanted to make Tsuande still want to believe in Amaya and everything to that nature, especially since Tsunade knew something happened when AMaya left the village int he first place.

Phoenixx313: Thank you! I am so happy you liked this past chapter and you will have to tell me your views about this new one! Yeah, Amaya really has become more badass as the story has progressed :P

XiiiKakashi: I am glad that you like this story as much as the other one! And don't worry... they will have a rocky road ahead of them, but this is fanfic world...sooo eventually... things may start to have a light at the end of the tunnel.

A/N: Sorry I have been gone so long guys! Things have been pretty hectic in my life, but if anyone was interested, I moved in and got everything set up in my apartment and I have officially started my first week working a "big kid" job. I should be back on a normal posting schedule again, and in my defense, even though I didn't write any new chapters, I can say that I did outline a bunch (like 8-10 chapters... I can't remember) so I was working on this even though I wasn't truly writing :P Anyway, please enjoy this overdue chapter.

Amaya leaned back into her chair as the corner of her mouth started to turn upwards into a sly smile. Danzo just sat there, strain and clearly present on his face. In all her life, the kunoichi never thought she would be in the position she was now. But here she was, leaving Danzo completely speechless without a retort, and she knew that her words were only about a third of the problem. The rest seemed to be the elder having a conflicting battle in his head. His body clearly understood the pressure and threat in front of him, but his mind and ego still saw the blue-haired woman as that little girl he took from her parents all those years ago.

Stretching her neck, Amaya rolled her head, pulling her muscles taunt before relaxing them. She had dropped her smile, and now she shifted her hands from the table to her lap. She took in a deep breath and kept Danzo's stare with one of her own. They were both at an impasse. The kunoichi had nothing else to say to the man in front of her, and the elder couldn't seem to find the right words to retort to Amaya's threat. If the man wasn't being monitored like he was, Amaya was sure he would have reprimanded her in a physical way, using his own henchmen. The foundation was his private area that he could do anything with. She knew that if she was there, she probably would have already played her last card—the information that she knew about the Akatsuki.

Danzo sat up straighter in his chair, if that was even possible, and Amaya tried to find a more relaxing position. After being huddled in a ball for almost a week, it felt nice to stretch out since feeling had finally returned to her limbs. Granted, they stung with pain that came from coming out of being numb and frozen, risking hyperthermia, but nevertheless, her sense of touch was making its way back to her. Both parties in the interrogation room were brought out of their heads when Tsunade's voice sounded over the loudspeakers.

"Please release your curse mark on Amaya. We have some questions we would like to ask her, and your cooperation is imperative."

Amaya turned her head to the one-way glass knowing that Tsunade was beind it, but before the intercom clicked, Amaya could hear hush whispers in the background indicating disapproval of Tsunade's orders. Amaya knew that if the roles were reversed she would probably be one of the people to stand up and say taking a curse mark off of a traitor was a bad idea. Especially if someone in the village could control them by a wave of a few hand signs. However, Amaya knew Tsunade. The hokage almost hated Danzo as much as she did. Almost.

The problem with Tsunade's orders was that Danzo never viewed the blonde as a true leader. Whether it was because she was a woman, one of the third's protégés, or due to his own ego and pride wanting to be the leader of Konoha, no one would know. So, Danzo liked to push back on Tsunade's authority, something that even now, Amaya would hesitate in doing.

"This traitor bears the mark of the foundation. My organization to say simply. Therefore, she is under my jurisdiction and I will do with her what I please. I think this," Danzo motioned to Amaya in a demeaning way as if she was a piece of livestock, "Needs to be broken a little further before it will talk," Danzo's jaw twitched with defiance.

The kunoichi in question rolled her eyes and seemed to be even less concerned with Danzo's words than she already was. However, she knew that the moment she was handed over to Danzo, it would not be easy to escape in one piece from her. Even though she tried to pull all her emotions out of her head and shove them into a tiny corner of her mind, her mouth started to turn dry and she wished she had been given the option to drink some water before she was thrown into the well-lit box. She moved her eyes from the one-way glass and back at the elder, causing the two to lock eyes. Her blood seemed to chill. Danzo wasn't smiling, but it almost seemed as if he was. He knew. He knew that he still made her feel uncomfortable.

Years of training to rid herself of emotions under the man, and she still struggled with it. And Danzo knew. Knowledge was always even more powerful than force when it came with dealing with an enemy. Danzo was her's and she was Danzo's. Knowing that he still had the ability to get under her skin, even to cause an ounce of discomfort, he was going to take action.

"I forbid you to take her away from here. My authority overrules yours—"

"Until you have a vote with the elder council, it will be the best interest of this village to follow protocol. I will make sure that it doesn't escape."

Amaya held her breath but turned her head to the glass when she heard a thump against it, along with the thick glass sounding like it was about to crack. Amaya snorted, knowing that Tsunade was probably throwing her temper around in the room adjacent. Not only that, but through the small cracks of the mirror, you could make out the muffle tones of someone yelling, what seemed to be, profanities at everyone and everything. Danzo sighed, hearing the same thing come from the Hokage. He muttered something under his breath, and the kunoichi only caught the last few words, and so she presumed the rest. Danzo disapproved of the hokage's leadership, and thought, per usual, that he should be the one to run the village.

"Stand." Danzo spoke directly at Amaya.

Amaya tilted her head to the side but refused to do anything that the man asked of her. Instead of demanding an action of her again, Danzo simply rose and pushed back his chair in a regal elegancy that only he could pull off. He took his time as he crossed the room to stand next to the kunoichi, their eyes never leaving each other's. Danzo stood so close to Amaya that she could feel his heat radiate off of his body without actually touching him. The blue-haired woman watched Danzo's every move carefully, tensing as he lifted up his hand. Instead of inflicting pain on her, he simply lifted the ends of her hair into his hand and let the strands fall between his fingers. He let the pads of his fingers almost massage the fine, long hairs before releasing them, only to do it again. The gesture almost seemed like it was meant to be intimate, one between two lovers.

"It's longer…" Danzo breathed quietly.

He reached out to run his hands through her hair a third time, but Amaya pulled away from him. This was an unusual side to Danzo she had never seen before. It sent chills down her spine as she hated the type of attention she was getting right now. She preferred when he wanted to let his subordinates beat the crap out of her. She could deal with the physical pain he wanted to cause her, but this, this mind game he was trying to play with her, made every hair on her body stand up. She knew that there was always something a little off about the older man, but this was the first time he had made a gesture of this towards her. She couldn't tell if it was just in his subconscious that he was doing it, or if he was trying to play a mind game with her. Either way, she wanted it to stop.

"But… it's… messier, almost unruly… with your split ends," Danzo whispered and he licked his lips, only to bend down and press his lips to Amaya's ear. "You know, we had a deal Amaya. We had a deal and there are a few things that I could have overlooked, however, sealing over my curse mark is not one of them."

Danzo let his hand, the one that was playing with Amaya's hair, move itself so it was now on Amaya's neck. Instantly, Amaya felt her throat constrict and she felt the room get smaller around her. Danzo's larger frame seem to loom over Amaya with no hopes of escape, and not only that, but Amaya seemed to forget about Tsunade, Ibiki, and Tenzo behind the glass. She wasn't even sure that they were there anymore, because someone would have done something about this, right? Amaya's pulse quickened, and she pulled against her restraints.

She could easily break them, but that would probably only cause more issues and arguments on with the elders on Tsunade's part. However, Amaya made up her mind, if Danzo was going to do something to her, then she would fight him right here and right now. She wasn't about to be subjected by unwanted sexual advancements if it came down to that. So, Amaya retorted to the only way she knew would make Danzo switch out of this mood, and back to one that she was used to. Tilting her head and slowing her breath, Amaya pressed her cheek against the older man's. She matched the volume of his voice, and she spoke with an eerie commitment.

"I wasn't the one who sealed it. Never even touched it with my own chakra, but, Itachi wanted me to tell you to go to hell the next time that I saw you. Saying that you broke your deal with him. You, among the others he left here in the village were supposed to take care of Sasuke after you made him slaughter his entire clan in fear of what they can do. We both knew that I was more likely to see you before he did, but let me tell you this, I'm more understanding than Itachi is. If he ever sees you, he won't hesitate to take away everything from you like you forced him to do."

Slap. Amaya heard the strike on her skin before she felt it. Danzo struck Amaya and her head turned to the side. She could feel the sting that accompanied the physical harm, but she was right. Fury was written on Danzo's face and he returned to his usual self. Danzo moved away from Amaya making sure that his body was nowhere near hers. Amaya bent down towards the table and lifted up her shackled hands, trying to rub away some of the pain of the sting.

Before Danzo or her could speak anymore, a familiar face walked into the room. It was no other than the ginger who helped Danzo start this whole thing. The one that trapped her that night and forced her to become what she was today. Danzo stepped away and the ginger took his place next to Amaya. He quickly undid her shackles and didn't waste any time placing chakra suppressant ones on her, to transport her. He roughly grabbed her upper arm and yanked her away from the chair. The kunoichi stumbled on her own two feet as blood rushed to her head from the sudden upwards movement.

She was quickly shuffled out of the room as she was manhandled by the ginger. He made sure to stay close behind her as he pressed his chest against her back as he led her out of the room. Amaya could feel the unmistakable pressure of the point of a kunai against her lower back. Amaya, followed by the ginger were the first to leave the room, followed by Danzo. He left the door open as they exited, the older man not bothering with it. The kunoichi made a quick note of her surroundings and even though the small window in the door eluded to a room that had little light it in, Amaya could make out three of the figures. Especially the one that seemed frantic about Amaya passing by. Tsunade was trying to put up a fight against the others in the room, but Amaya figured that the elders had answered her call and came down here to have a discussion with the hokage for once. Instead of demanding the hokage come to them.

Not only that, but disregarding the three, and the two elders, there also seemed to be a few more bodies in the room listening in. One stood in the corner, ridged and unmoving, but if Amaya could have seen their eyes, she knew that they would be on her, piercing the gateway of her soul in her own orbs. However, before she could think any more about the persons crowding the tiny room, Amaya was shoved down twists and turns, the foundation lacky trying to make her lose her way. The only problem was, was that with being a high-ranking captain in the Anbu, she already knew every route of Konoha by heart. Even after she left there were very few things that have changed in the approximate three years that she had been away.

The farther away that they got from the interrogation wing, the colder it seemed to get. The deeper they went underground; the only light was the torches that lit the walls around them. Amaya knew that with every turn they were getting closer and closer to the basements of the foundation. Where, everyone knew, who had been affiliated with Danzo at some point or another, was where they took people down there to scrape the flesh off their enemies and enact any cruel or unusual punishment they could think of to their captured enemy. Every traitor that had gone into those basement rooms, there was no record of anyone ever leaving alive.

That's when the trio abruptly stopped, and Amaya was thrown against the wall. Amaya gritted her teeth to try and keep some of the air that was forced out of her lungs. The ginger stepped away and took his hands off of her, only to be replaced by Danzo's. Danzo pulled back his hand and punched Amaya squarely in the jaw. The kunoichi slumped against the brick and she could feel blood spill into her mouth from the contact, and she felt as if some of the skin on the lips of her mouth had been broken apart from the contact. She lit it coat her teeth and drip out of her mouth from her turned head, before righted her face. It seemed as if she was taking too much time and so, Danzo reached his hand out and gripped her chin harshly in his hand.

Amaya made a quick glance at the hand that was holding her in place, and she saw that Danzo's pinky ring had some of her flesh on it. She now found why she had a split lip even though the man didn't directly punch her mouth. Danzo then shoved Amaya's face away and took a couple of steps back from her. He shook out his hand, the one that punched her as if he was trying to get rid of a bug that wouldn't leave him alone.

"Before we take you to the basement, I figured I would give you the chance to make this right. Tell me right here and right now everything you know about the Akatsuki and I will make your death a swift one."

"I could do that, but honestly, what more could you do to me that I haven't already done to myself?" Amaya said licking her teeth and letting the wall support her weight as she looked at Danzo and his underling.

The ginger took a threatening move forward, but Amaya didn't stop with her next insult.

"Look at you Danzo, losing your power already. You can't even finish the job you started, you just make your lackies do your job for you. It just seems to me that your power is fading—"

Amaya's head jerked away as another fist connected against her cheek bone. This time, the punch was delivered by the ginger, who was fuming at the way Amaya was treating the leader he was mind-controlled to like and protect. The kunoichi spat the blood that was in her mouth onto the floor beside her shoe and carefully moved her head, so she was facing center again. She could already start to feel her cheek beginning to bruise.

"You know, you're forgetting something…" Amaya sighed, letting a forced smile play on her lips even though it causes her pain to do so.

Danzo looked coldly at Amaya before responding, "What could that possibly be?"

"You keep forgetting who you are dealing with."

Without warning, Danzo closed the distance between them and shoved his hand in Amaya's hair, pulling on it harshly, making her stand up straighter as he held her hair above her head.

"Stop playing this game, you will lose every time. You keep bringing up how powerful you are but I have yet to see it! Don't make me do what we discussed before you left. Tell me what you know!"

"If you were serious about killing the ones I hold dear, you would have already done it," Amaya smirked, calling Danzo on his bluff, and ignoring his comment about her power.

Danzo didn't hesitate to punch her again, in the same spot the ginger had. Amaya knew that now she would have a deep bruise there, but she couldn't help but start laughing at Danzo's action. She moved her head back into place and Danzo looked at her as if she had gone crazy. She had, for the first time, gotten under the elder's skin. It was a glorious feeling, calling him out on his bluff. Three years ago, the elder wouldn't hesitate in killing the ones close to her, but now, the man didn't know if she would really feel remorse for them. Kakashi dying would indeed bring Amaya to her knees, but Danzo just couldn't orchestrate killing the white-haired nin without being prepared to lose some of his top members—a risk that even Danzo would be careful in asking for.

The older man seemed to stall, and his subordinate saw this. The ginger quickly stepped in for Danzo and gripped Amaya's collar, forcing Danzo to let go of her hair and get out of her face. The ginger pulled Amaya closer and spat into her face.

"No one insults the foundation leader like you have and gets away with it. No. One." The ginger spoke with malice in his voice, but Amaya was unamused with him, and simply just wiped off her face.

So, the ginger takes out his rage on Amaya. Instead of punching her in the face as Amaya predicted, he threw a few towards her abdomen, making her crouch forward with the affliction. The ginger was about to bring his knee up and knee Amaya's face, but she pushed herself backwards, aligning herself with the wall again. The ginger reared back, getting ready to punch her again, but Amaya's fight or flight finally kicked in. She just about had enough of this. She placed up a block, one that was hard due to her wrists being confined, but before the ginger contacted her, Amaya heard a voice screaming, very angerly, for them to stop.

"Enough!" The feminine voice sounded again, Tsunade's face quickly appearing and being illuminated by the soft light of the torches hanging on the wall.

The trio looked at the hokage, along with the Anbu members she had next to her, and the two elders. Tsunade walked briskly up to Danzo and sized him up. When she determined that he wasn't going to be a threat, she tore her attention away from him and to the ginger, yelling at him to take his hands off of Amaya. Amaya wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, knowing full well that she smeared the blood that was on her face. However, even as Tsunade was barking orders, the kunoichi's eyes were only trained on one individual.

"What the hell is happening here?" Tsunade demanded, directing her question at Danzo.

"Amaya was resisting—"

The hokage looked at Amaya, who had blood and bruising on her face and sighed, sarcastically responding to the older man.

"I can see how much damage she could inflict when her hands are bound in those chakra suppressant cuffs."

That's when the elders started to pipe in and tell Danzo to hand over the traitorous kunoichi over to them and the hokage. That they would be the ones that would deal with her and determine what to do. That no matter what, no matter who, Tsunade always had the right to question anyone she deemed appropriate since she was the fifth. Danzo seemed unfazed by the knowledge but held a steady glare filled with animosity towards Tsunade.

"Now, remove your curse mark from Amaya before I am forced to use physical means for your compliance."

Danzo didn't answer Tsunade and instead approached Amaya, placing his hand over her bruised cheek. He traced the damage he and his subordinate did to her, and let his fingers linger.

"It's been fun… but I think we all know who holds the real power in this village, and it isn't and will never be, you." Amaya said so lowly that only Danzo could hear, causing him to remove himself from the weird trance he was in.

Amaya knew that she hit a nerve and in due time she would probably pay for her comment. Danzo placed his hand over Amaya's mouth and that's when she felt as if a thousand kunai tips enter her skin and cut her open from the inside out. Her shoulder and tongue felt as if she was getting burned alive. Her eyes started to water from the pain, but the kunoichi drew in a deep breath, refusing to let anyone see the amount of pain she was in. A cold sweat broke out on her forehead and back, but as quickly as the pain came, it already started to dull once Danzo removed his hand from over her mouth. She knew that he used his other hand to perform the hand seals to remove the mark, but it was smart on his part to let Tsunade not see his trademarked secret.

Slumping against the wall, Amaya heard Tsunade tell the Anbu members to her side to help the kunoichi and bring her back to the interrogation room. Both men nodded their heads to their superior and moved forward towards the kunoichi. Amaya's eyes still never left the mask of the man who she recognized, even after Danzo released his hold on her. Both men had a strong, steady grip on her upper arms, but it seemed that the brown-haired individual with the mask resembling a cat, complete with green and red markings.

The two men led Amaya forward, making sure that she wouldn't fall as their pace quickened. As they started to approach the surface, or at least, closer to the interrogation area, more light started to fill the hallways, as heat greeted Amaya's skin once more as they moved away from the wet, cold dankness of the subdivided underground compound of the foundation. Amaya threw a look backwards and watched as Danzo and the ginger faded from sight as she was moved away from them. She let herself take a deep breath before the brown-haired Anbu member relaxed his harsh grip on her arm, to something that was almost non-existant. Like his hand was only under her arm now, in case she fell.

Amaya dropped her head, feeling tears pull in the corner of her eyes again. However, this time, it was due to the forgiveness in the gesture from her friend. Nothing was said to each other, but here they were. With one simple act, Amaya just knew that she hadn't lost everyone. At least, not yet. Letting her head hand low, she whispered so low that only her friend could hear her.

"I'm sorry" Amaya made out, but her voice was coated heavily with emotion.

She wanted to say more but didn't know if she could. She hoped that Tenzo had heard her weak apology. She received confirmation from him when his grip on her squeezed her arm slightly. The gesture signifying that he was there for her, looking out for her, and making sure that no one was about to inflict more pain and torture. Amaya clenched her jaw ignoring the pain, letting her emotions wash over her. Even after everything she had done, Tenzo was still in his corner—just as he promised her all those years ago.